


Dock on a Quiet Pond

by birdsofmalcontent



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Bittersweet, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Summer Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-24 10:35:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30070971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/birdsofmalcontent/pseuds/birdsofmalcontent
Summary: Two boys, sitting on a dock on a pond in the middle of the night, barely speaking but sharing everything.
Relationships: Clay | Dream/Technoblade (Video Blogging RPF)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 189





	Dock on a Quiet Pond

It's quiet.

It's always quiet out here.

That's the point, though, isn't it? That's why there's a little parking lot, why there's a dock looking over the pond, why there are trails everywhere, winding through the reeds and the aspens, just barely missing the nettles that line everything around here.

It's quiet, it's secluded.

They're alone.

Some auto-generated playlist plays from Dream's phone, barely there. The songs just blend into the background, become a part of the night.

Leaves rustling, breeze passing along the ripples of the pond, Tally Hall song whispering across the space.

"It's warmer than I expected," Techno says, momentarily breaking the trance they've fallen into, but the veil of quiet falls back as he finishes his words, because it's a rhetorical observation that Dream has no need to answer.

If they were addicts, they would have cigarettes between their fingers, blowing wafts of smoke into the night air.

If they were lovers, their hands would be intertwined, they'd be an inch closer, sharing each other's heat.

But they're just a couple of high schoolers, sitting on the edge of a dock, toes barely grazing the deep green water.

"Have you made your decision yet?" Dream asks after a long while.

"No." Techno doesn't break his gaze with whatever has his attention across the pond. "It's only March."

"I suppose." Dream grabs a stick off the dock next to his leg. It makes little ripples in the water when he tosses it into the pond. His brain says something moves under the surface, something big coming to eat him, but he knows it's just his imagination.

"Have you?" Techno takes the bait, still doesn't move his eyes.

"University of Chicago. I committed on Tuesday."

"Out of panic?"

"No, it was- my parents helped, obviously, and I just took a deep breath and pushed the button."

"Fascinating."

"Thank you."

"And I'm guessing George will be going somewhere close?"

"What?" Dream looks to his side at Techno's profile. His features betray nothing, they never do; Techno's eyes are as blank as ever. "No. Why would he come with me?"

"Lovers do that. Run off to college together, because they're high school sweethearts and will be together till the end of time. It's how it works. He runs after you, stays loyal at your heels, and you'll break up before Christmas of this year."

"We're not lovers."

"Yes, you are." Techno sighs, glances over, meets Dream's eyes, and Dream can swear he almost sees pain behind them. "Devoted to each other, joined at the hip."

"If we were lovers, I would take him to this spot and leave you behind," Dream says, surprised at the bite behind his words. He doesn't mean to, but nobody will be quiet about him and George. They're in love, they all say, the power couple of the senior class. "I have my eyes set on other people."

Techno turns back and once again, his face is blank. He's always been so hard to read, so quiet with everything he does, and Dream wants to understand everything about him. "Maybe you should bring him instead, then."

"Don't talk like that." This is their spot. When life gets hard, instead of laying in bed and scrolling through Instagram until he drowns himself to sleep, Dream picks up Techno in the rickety old Subaru his parents let him borrow and they sit on the dock in silence. "This is... this is ours."

"Ours?" Techno asks. "Careful, you'll start sounding like a shitty romance novel."

"Why can't you just accept the fact that I like being around you?"

"Because you don't. I'm just here to combat your fear of the dark."

"There's more than that, Techno."

"Oh? We're barely friends, Dream. We don't speak during the days, and maybe once a week, we sit out here and stare at this pond, wonder about our individual futures and just sit next to each other."

"And is that so bad?"

"It's artificial. You couldn't name my favorite color or my favorite food or how I got this scar on my arm." Techno brandishes his arm forward so Dream can see the long, thin scar that wraps around his forearm and reaches to his elbow. It's pink and thick and ugly, but it's what makes Techno himself and it fascinates Dream.

"You fell into barbed wire at your grandparents' ranch when you were nine because you were running from your brother." Dream reaches out and runs his finger along the scar, traces from the base of Techno's palm to the point of his elbow, because he knows Techno likes the feeling. "I love that story."

Techno quiets, just watches as Dream's finger traces his arm. It's quiet again, but there's something in the air, asking to be broken.

"I like sitting next to you. And maybe that's not the regular kind of friendship, but it makes feel good and I hope it makes you feel good too."

"It does." Techno's hand is limp, his whole arm is, so Dream is holding the whole thing up. Their breathing is uneven and doesn't sync together, and the rustle of the leaves is the only sound around them besides the ad playing on Spotify.

"We can stop. I just... I like being here with you. Sitting close, dangling our legs off the dock, because we... I don't know. We're the same, Techno. We think some of the same things, we like the same songs, we can laugh at the same jokes, and I don't find that in any other of my friends."

Their eyes meet again, just for a split second, and neither knows who leans in first.

It's quiet. This isn't a big swell of sound in the movie's soundtrack, this is fast and surprising and unknown, because it's just two boys sitting on the edge of a dock and kissing in the middle of the night.

There aren't any fireworks, it doesn't feel like a big sigh of relief, but Techno is warm and his lips are a little chapped. It isn't Dream's first kiss (it's his second), but he's still not quite sure what to do with it, just holds Techno's wrist and hopes he isn't making a complete idiot of himself.

When they pull apart, Techno looks down at his lap, doesn't meet Dream's gaze. He picks at his nail, like he always does when he's nervous. "I'm sorry."

"No, no, don't apologize."

"I shouldn't have done that."

"I was the one who kissed you."

"Oh?"

"Can I do it again?"

"Yes."

So they kiss again, and now Techno's hand is on Dream's cheek and it feels less tense, less anxious, more comfortable. Still no fireworks, but Dream isn't terrified the second time.

"I'm not following you to college," Techno says when they part.

"I'm not either."

There's a hint of uncertainty in their words but both ignore it.

"That only gives us four and a half months of..." Techno trails off.

Four and a half months of whatever the hell they just started.

"I know," Dream says.

"Summer romance type of thing."

"Let's not pay attention to how long we have." Dream knows they will eventually. "Not right now. I just want this to be 'ours' for tonight."

Techno nods, and after a moment of hesitation, intertwines their fingers.

And they're back where they started, sitting on a dock, their toes just barely touching the dark green water, but now their hands are intertwined and they're sitting that inch closer.

Maybe it's just another thing to worry about, because there are a million things to think about right now (they're graduating in June and going to college in August), but right now, it's just them, sitting with their hands intertwined and smiles on their mouths.

It's quiet.


End file.
